


Hate Speech

by Lavanya_Six



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Censorship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-27
Updated: 2013-01-27
Packaged: 2017-11-27 04:36:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/658072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lavanya_Six/pseuds/Lavanya_Six
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>People aren't the only causalities of war.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hate Speech

Plates shuffled and mouths chewed. It was just the three of them tonight—Tenzin, Pema, and Lin. The Avatar was off, busy with the day-and-night task of healing Amon's victims. The children were being treated to dinner on their uncle's flagship. Only Rohan shared the dining room with them, dozing against his mother's breast.

Tenzin looked at nobody. Pema kept her eyes down. Only Lin, silently annoyed at yet another meal without meat in it, dared look at the others, waiting.

"The food is excellent, Pema," she finally said.

"Thank you."

"Too bad I can't say the same about the conversation."

"If you feel so strongly about conversation," Tenzin began, still not looking up from his rice bowl, "then perhaps you ought to defend it."

"I do if it's worthwhile. There can be bad food, after all. You do the cook no favors by not pointing it out."

Pema watched the pair, silent.

Tenzin exhaled through his nose. "Don't dance around your point, Lin. It doesn't suit an earthbender."

"All right." Lin set down her chopsticks. "You're being an idiot. How can you defend those people?"

"The Equalists are already outlawed. I don't see the point in making them _more_ illegal."

Her fist pounded the tabletop and the plates jumped. "That's a load of malarkey and you know it!"

Pema stood up. "I think the baby needs a dipper change."

They watched her retreat, then resumed their glaring match. When Lin spoke again, she kept her voice to a restrained level. "The Equalists aren't the problem. The problem is the next group that decides to change the world by getting rid of everyone that they don't think fits into it. If you want to stop them before they even get started, vote 'yes' tomorrow with everyone else."

"Freedom of speech goes back to the Republic's founding, Lin. If we chip away at the protections of the Basic Law, we're no better than Tarrlok!"

"Please. We have insane speech laws for the same reason there's two Water Tribe seats on the council: nobody trusted Uncle Zuko after he almost started another war. The Earth King and your grandfather wanted to have as many voices as possible to shout down the colonists if they got too cozy with the fatherland."

Tenzin shook his head. "Just because their origin wasn't ideal doesn't mean our rights aren't worthwhile."

"This is about more than freedom." Lin said, "It's about responsibility. Amon is on us. We tolerated their intolerance. We let the Equalists recruit in public parks, spewing their hate-mongering _under police protection_."

"They weren't criminals back then!"

"They should have been!"

Tenzin banged the table. "You can't make ideas a crime, Lin! And even if you did, people wouldn't stop having them. They'd just go underground, or speak in code. Better to keep it out in the open. Let sunshine be a disinfectant."

"We've seen what sunshine got us." Lin stood up. "If you aren't going to open your eyes, then there's no point in talking. Goodnight, Tenzin."

She walked out, and silence filled the dining room.


End file.
